CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Cornell senior midfielder Max Van Bourgondien registered a natural hat trick in the final 3:29 of the contest, as the No. 2 Big Red men's lacrosse team scored the final five goals of the game to comeback and defeat Harvard, 14-12, this afternoon in Cambridge, Mass. Steve Mock led Cornell with six goals, including two in the decisive fourth quarter.

Through the first 45 minutes of the contest, Cornell struggled to win a faceoff (5-of-19), came up short during Crimson man-up opportunities (allowing four goals on six chances) and saw little production from its midfield (two goals, one assist). The final 15 minutes were a completely different story, however as the visitors, trailing 10-7, went on to win 7-of-10 face-offs, killed all three Harvard man-up chances, and got four goals and three assists from its first offensive midfield.

In addition to Mock's six goals and Van Bourgondien's three tallies, the Big Red saw great production from Rob Pannell (two goals, three assists), Connor Buczek (two goals, one assist) and Connor English (three assists).

Defensively, Jason Noble caused six turnovers and scooped five ground balls, while Thomas Keith led Cornell with six ground balls and added one caused turnover and one assist. AJ Fiore finished with 11 saves, including three big ones in the final quarter.

Seven different Crimson players scored on the day and Harvard was led by Peter Schwartz's three goals and one assist, while Devin Dwyer added two goals and three helpers. Rick Mole was solid in the faceoff circle, winning 16-of-27 and picking up nine ground balls.

In net, Harry Krieger made 15 stops.

Cornell held the edge in shots 51-39 and turned the ball over just nine times, compared to the Crimson's 19 miscues.

Harvard won 17-of-29 face-offs, helping them to a 32-29 advantage in ground balls. The Crimson cleared the ball successfully on 14-of-16 tries, while the Big Red went 15-of-19. The home team also converted 4-of-9 extra-man chances, while Cornell scored on 1-of-2.

The ending was a wild one, as the teams traded goals through the first five minutes until a goal by Murphy Vandervelde put Harvard up, 12-9, with 9:48 remaining in the contest. Just 47 seconds later, Buczek scored off a pass from English and that opened the floodgates, sparking the decisive 5-0 run to end the contest. The goal by Buczek was a blast that beat Krieger from about 20-yards out to make it a 12-10 game.

Cornell won the restart on a procedure call and Pannell made it a one-goal game (12-11) with a great individual effort.

The teams traded possessions and the Big Red killed a Harvard man-up chance with less than five minutes to play thanks to a big save by Fiore. Moments later, Van Bourgondien scored the first of his decisive three goals, with the first two each being assisted on by English.
The game was a back and forth affair from the beginning with neither team taking more than a one-goal lead until consecutive goals by Alex White and Schwartz put Harvard went up, 6-4, with under one minute to play in the half. Both goals were assisted on by Dwyer, with White's goal coming in a man-up situation.

Consecutive Cornell goals in a span of 24 seconds tied the game again at 6-6 early in the third quarter. Mock had a hand in both, scoring the first off a pass from Buczek before assisting on Doug Tesoriero's first goal of the season at the 13:04 mark.

The Big Red enjoyed its first man-up chance of the afternoon, and it was a two-man advantage that Cornell converted as Pannell spread the offense and then found Mock wide open in the center of the Crimson defense to put the visitors back up, 7-6.

Harvard earned a 6-on-4 chance of its own and despite putting the ball on the carpet, killing one of the penalties and a save by Fiore, the Crimson eventually converted with a man-up goal by Garret Campbell, who scored on the doorstep at the 6:48 mark.

Another man-up goal, this time by Dwyer, restored the 8-7 lead to Harvard and moments later White dodged to the cage and scored from point-blank range to make it a 9-7 advantage.

After losing the restart a huge save by Fiore gave the ball back to Cornell but Krieger answered with a save of his own and moments later Brendan Newman scored to make it a 10-7 game heading into the final intermission.

Cornell won the first faceoff of the fourth quarter thanks to some tough play by Keith and Mock scored in transition to make it a 10-8 game. Keith came up with the ground ball again on the restart but after several good chances a Big Red player stepped in the crease and gave the ball back to the home team.

The teams then traded goals until the decisive Cornell run.

The Big Red has a quick turnaround as it travels to No. 8 Syracuse on Wednesday, April 10 at 6 p.m. The game will be nationally broadcast on ESPNU